Children's Museum Tucson

   Children’s Museum Tucson is committed to continually creating experiences that engage children and adults while simultaneously incorporating integrated play and learning opportunities. The benefits of play for children’s development and well-being are diverse and well-documented: play improves physical and mental health, boosts creativity, encourages formation of social connections and bolsters learning.

   We are asking you to share our passion for play and support our reimagined Build It! exhibit for children to discover, create, and connect through experiential building. With over-sized construction materials such as a Rig-Ama-Jig set and Imagination Blocks, budding engineers will use brain and muscle power to shape their landscape in fun and exciting ways. The proposed Build It! room will focus on S.T.E.A.M. education and offer a flex space for fun demos and special activities to further inspire young minds.

   For 27 years, hundreds of thousands of children and their families have been playing, learning and discovering at the Children’s Museum Tucson. 2013 was a  record-breaking year in which we invested greatly in our exhibits and programming, thanks to the contributions of so many in our community. We are excited to share with you the many highlights that made this past year so momentous:

• Record-breaking attendance of 161,798 visitors—20% increase from last year and an 82% increase over the past 5 years!
• The opening of our reimagined Art Studio & Wee World.
• The introduction of new programing including Roll-Out Science Cart & Wee Wiggle.
• 15% of our days were free & reduced admission to allow accessibility for the entire Southern Arizona community.

   Although proud of our progress, our work to improve play is not done. We strive to continually evolve and enhance our exhibits. The reimagined new Build It! space aligns with our deep commitment to education through play by providing  materials for interactive and open-ended experiences.

   The tactile experience of manipulating objects increases children’s attainment of mathematical, engineering and design concepts. In Build It! children will:

• Enhance understanding of mathematical & engineering concepts through experiential building.
• Develop cognitive skills such as spatial awareness through constructive problem solving.
• Develop communication and cooperation skills through collaboration with peers.
• Discover and practice design skills as they turn their ideas into reality.

   Your support of this project will allow the Museum to inspire more and more children to reach their full potential through play, learning and discovery.

   We thank you and hope you will visit the Children’s Museum Tucson in the summer of 2014 to play in Build It!